


Sibilarities

by storm_aurora



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: 2020 Specord Secret Santa, Christmas Party, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hop has big ADHD energy, Hop is friends with literally everyone, Hop-centric (Pokemon), Hugh is mostly just friends with Whitley and Hop and his sister, Light Angst, Minor Dexholder cameos, Miscommunication, Post-Canon, Protective Siblings, Secret Santa, So Much Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28807998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storm_aurora/pseuds/storm_aurora
Summary: When a series of unfortunate events forces Hop and Hugh to give a Secret Santa gift together at a party for Pokédex holders, Hop quickly discovers that they have a lot in common - and Hugh can help him with a lot more than just the Secret Santa.
Relationships: Dande | Leon & Hop, Hop & Hyuu | Hugh, Hyuu | Hugh & Hyuu | Hugh's Sister, minor Hyuu | Hugh's Sister/Petashi | Leo
Comments: 11
Kudos: 21
Collections: 2020 Specord Secret Santa





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Skittymon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skittymon/gifts).



> This was written for Specord's Secret Santa Writing Event! We were each assigned a character or two and tasked with writing a fic where that character has to get a Secret Santa gift for another writer's character, as a gift fic for that writer. It just so happened that I got to write my two favorite non-Dexholders getting a gift for my favorite Dexholder, so I had a blast working on this fic!! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed planning and writing it <3

“Race you to the station!”

“You’re on!!”

Hop sprints down the path, Schilly hot on his heels. She starts to pull ahead of him when they reach the familiar cobblestone of Wedgehurst, but Hop’s long legs allow him to outstrip her once her fresh burst of energy fades. He slams his hands into the wall of the train station a few seconds before Schilly does.

“I win!” Hop pants, grinning from ear to ear.

Schilly laughs, leaning against the wall. “Guess running’s still the one thing I can’t beat you at!!”

They both take a moment to catch their breath. Then, Hop asks, “So what made you decide to invite these guys now?”

“Well, I’ve always wanted to meet the Pokédex holders of other regions. And Unova’s one of our closest neighbors, so it seemed like the perfect place to start!” Schilly explains. “I used Professor Magnolia’s database to get their contact information, and we all arranged times to meet up from there!!”

“Do you think they’ll mind that I don’t have a Pokédex?” Hop wonders. “I’m not really a part of your exclusive club…”

“Oh, don’t be like that! You’re my friend – you’ve got every right to join us!! Besides…” Schilly trails off, her attention shifting to something behind Hop. “Oh! They’re here!!”

Hop turns around. Two kids around Hop and Schilly’s age have just come out of the station – a girl with brown hair tied up into buns on both sides of her head and a boy with spiky blue hair. They’re turning to look at Schilly (it’s impossible not to hear her), and Schilly runs up to them.

“Hi!! Whitley and Hugh, right?” Schilly exclaims, pointing at the girl and the boy in turn. “I’m Schilly! Nice to meet you!!”

Hop jogs to catch up to her, missing Whitley’s response. Hugh shakes Schilly’s hand, but his gaze snaps over to Hop almost immediately. “Who are you?” he asks, glaring at Hop in a way that reminds him of Bede.

Hop’s lip curls. “I’m Hop,” he says tersely. “I’m a friend of Schilly’s.”

“Hop’s volunteered his living room for movie night!” Schilly adds. “They’ve got a _huge_ telly in there – it’s gonna be awesome!!”

“What are we doing first?” Whitley asks. Her voice is so quiet compared to Schilly’s, it gives Hop’s ears the audio equivalent of whiplash.

“We’re going to my place!! I wanna show you guys some of the projects I’ve been working on!!”

“Er… Projects?”

Hop grins and throws an arm over Schilly’s shoulders. “Schilly here is a computer engineer! She makes all kinds of hardware and software–”

“Duck!” Hugh shouts.

Hop hesitates to blindly follow an order from Hugh, but Whitley, Hugh, and Schilly all duck immediately. He starts to duck a moment too late.

_SMACK._

Something crashes into Hop from behind, knocking him to the ground. He groans.

“Hop!! Are you okay!?”

“I tried to warn you.”

“Oh, you poor thing… What happened to you?”

Hop glances up at Whitley and realizes she’s not talking to him, but rather to the large mass on his back. Schilly pushes it off and helps him to his feet. He’s finally able to get a good look at the thing – it’s a Togekiss, a worn-out mailbag lying at its feet. It looks battered and exhausted, like it just came out of a rough battle.

“We need to treat its injuries,” Whitley says, gently stroking one of Togekiss’s wings. “Is there anywhere close by we can do that?”

“There’s a Pokémon Center just up the road,” Hop says. “If we work together, we can carry–”

Togekiss lets out a loud cry, drawing their attention to it. It has somehow managed to empty out the contents of its little mailbag, three battered envelopes, and now it’s picking up the bag by its strap.

“What are these?” Schilly asks, crouching down to examine one of the envelopes.

Before she can get an answer, Togekiss flaps its wings and takes off. “Wait!” Whitley cries. “You’re still hurt – you should rest before you do any more flying!” But Togekiss either doesn’t hear her or doesn’t care; Hop watches it fly away until he loses sight of its white feathers in the clouds.

“‘Happy Ho-Ho-Holidays! You’ve been invited to–’”

“Hang on,” Hugh interrupts Schilly. “You _opened_ it?”

“Well, yeah! It’s got my name on it!!” Schilly responds, proudly showing the envelope to Hugh.

“Go on, what’s it say?” Hop asks.

“You’ve been invited to the _GREATEST DEXHOLDER CHRISTMAS PARTY EVER!!_ ” Schilly reads, punching the letter in the air for emphasis. “Every Pokédex holder is invited to this once-in-a-lifetime event! Come on down to New Bark Town and enjoy a night full of fun, games, and excitement! And in case you were thinking of skipping out on this AMAZING experience, we’re having a Secret Santa gift exchange at the party. You’ve been assigned one of the other attendees, so if you don’t show up with a gift for them, they’re going to be very disappointed! Your assignment is included with your invitation. See you there!!”

By the time she finishes, Whitley and Hugh are both cringing and covering their ears. Hop’s grown accustomed to her yelling by now, so his ears are only ringing slightly.

“Weird way to do a Secret Santa,” he comments. “Most people are gonna get assigned people they don’t even know. Who’d you get, Schilly?”

Schilly grins mischievously. “Can’t tell you. If I did, it wouldn’t be a _Secret_ Santa anymore!!”

Hop laughs. “Guess you’re right!”

He scoops the remaining two envelopes up off the ground and reads the addresses. “This one’s for you, Whitley,” he says, offering the first envelope to her. She lowers her hands from her ears and takes it from him. “And this one is…for me?”

He squints at it. The envelope is water-stained in a distinctly circular shape, like someone left their glass sitting on top of it. The stain runs directly through the name on the envelope, smearing everything except the first letter almost beyond recognition. Not that the handwriting was especially legible to begin with, if the name on Whitley’s invitation is anything to go by. It _could_ be his name, but…that could be an ‘o’ or a ‘u’…and he’s not even going to try to decipher that squiggly mess at the end.

Hop glances up from the envelope to see Hugh watching him and scowling. He looks away when Hop makes eye contact, but the scowl remains. “So I didn’t get invited,” Hugh says. “Whatever. Party can’t be that exciting if the host has to guilt-trip the guests into coming.”

“Oh… Here, Hugh. You can go in my place,” Whitley says, pushing her invitation into Hugh’s hands. “I – I’m no good at gift-giving, and I’m not much of a partygoer…”

“No way,” Hugh says firmly, pushing the invitation back into her hands. “You ought to go. Meet fellow Pokédex holders.”

“But I don’t want to go by myself.”

“You won’t. I’m sure Blake was invited, too.”

“What if he wasn’t?”

“Then you can go with Black or White. They’re nice people.”

“You know what?” Hop interrupts, sensing that this argument is going nowhere fast. “I think I picked up your invitation by mistake, Hugh. Here.”

Hugh takes the envelope from Hop and glares at it for a minute, obviously having as much difficulty reading it as Hop did. Finally, he looks up and holds the envelope back out to Hop. “It could be addressed to either you or me,” he says. “You can keep it. Like I said, it’s not a big deal. I’m not going to take away someone else’s invitation just so I can go.”

To say Hop is surprised by his courteousness would be an understatement. He expected Hugh to have accepted the first offer without so much as a thank you and made some snide remarks about the host while he was at it. It’s what Bede would have done. But Hugh is, at the very least, being considerate of Whitley’s and Hop’s feelings. He’s not as similar to Bede as Hop had initially thought.

However, as kind as it is, Hop can’t accept Hugh’s offer. “Thanks, but you should have it,” he says. “The party is for Pokédex holders, and I don’t have a Pokédex. So I really shouldn’t go.”

“I’m not a Pokédex holder, either.”

Hop blinks. “You’re not?”

“No,” Hugh says, narrowing his eyes. “What made you think that?”

“W-well, Schilly said she had arranged to meet up with Pokédex holders from Unova, and you were one of the people we were meeting up with, so I figured…”

“That he was a Pokédex holder, too?” Schilly asks. “Is that why you were worried about not having a Pokédex?”

Hop can feel his cheeks heating up. “M-maybe.”

Schilly laughs and slaps Hop on the back. “Never change, Hop!!”

Eager to shift the focus away from him, Hop asks, “What do we do about the mystery invitation, then?”

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” Hugh says, waving the invitation at Hop. 

“I’ve got a better idea!!” Schilly exclaims. “Why don’t the two of you buy a gift together?”

“Together?” Hugh echoes.

Hop glances at Hugh. The other boy is looking at him doubtfully, but Hop shoots him a grin. “That sounds like fun!” he declares. Nothing like a shared goal to help him get to know Hugh better. And as long as he’s not as insufferable as Bede – which, at this point, Hop is fairly confident that he’s not – they’ll get along just fine.

“But only one of us was invited,” Hugh argues. “Only one of us will be getting a gift.”

“Best to make sure both of us are there, then!” Hop exclaims, getting more and more excited with each passing second. “We’ll split the gift if we can. This way, nobody has to be left out! It’s the perfect solution! You’re a genius, Schilly!”

Schilly beams. Hugh sighs. “Fine. It’ll be easier to come up with a gift idea if there are two of us.”

“Awesome! Great to be working with you, mate!” Hop says, extending a hand.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” Hugh mutters, shaking Hop’s hand quickly. Then he starts ripping open the envelope. “Let’s see our assignment.”

“Wait, wait! We can’t do it here,” Hop says, snatching the envelope from Hugh. “What if we’ve been assigned one of them?” He gestures to the girls.

“Have you got a better place in mind?” Hugh asks curtly.

Hop grins. “As a matter of fact, I do!” He turns to Schilly and Whitley. “Sorry, girls! We’ve gotta get cracking on a plan for our Secret Santa gift. We’ll head over to your house when we’re done, Schilly!”

“Sounds good! See you later!!” Schilly exclaims.

* * *

“Sonia?” Hop calls, pushing open the door of the Pokémon Lab. “It’s Hop! I brought a friend!”

The lights in the main entrance to the lab are off, but warm yellow light is spilling out from around the corner. After a moment, Sonia’s head pokes out. “Hop! I wasn’t expecting you today,” she says. “‘Scuse me, I’ll be done in a sec!”

Sonia’s head disappears, presumably to wrap up whatever experiment she’s currently working on. “Hey, you don’t need to stop on our account!” Hop shouts. “We’re not gonna be here very long, hopefully!”

“All the more reason to take a break now!” Sonia calls back. A few moments later, she’s strolling up to Hop and Hugh, one hand in the pocket of her lab coat, the other twirling a strand of hair around her finger. “Hiya! Professor Sonia Magnolia, at your service. Though you can just call me Sonia! And you are?”

“I’m Hugh,” he says, glancing back and forth from Hop to Sonia. Finally, his gaze stops on Hop and he demands, “Hop, what in the world are we doing here?”

“It’s somewhere more private where we can check our Secret Santa assignment,” Hop explains. “Plus, if we get assigned someone we don’t know, what better place to look up information about them than a lab where the Pokédex software was developed?”

“Ooh, a Secret Santa exchange? Sounds like fun!” Sonia grins. “But…what’s the Pokédex got to do with it?”

“Everyone participating in the exchange is a Pokédex holder,” Hop says. “Well, besides us. You’ve got a database of information about all the Pokédex holders, right?”

“Yep, my grandma put it together,” Sonia says. “It’s mostly hard facts and data, though. I’m not sure how much use it’ll be for gift ideas.”

“Well, it’s better than nothing!”

“Hey, can we get on with it?” Hugh says, gesturing to the envelope impatiently. “Let’s see who we’ve got.”

Hop slides out the invitation first, and then a smaller sheet of paper that contains their assignment. “We’ve been assigned…Moon,” he reads.

“I don’t know who that is,” Hugh scowls. “You?”

“I…might’ve seen the name in the database,” Hop says, frowning. “Don’t know anything about them, though.”

“To the database, then!” Sonia declares.

Hop and Hugh follow Sonia to her desk, where a monitor floats amid a sea of papers, office supplies, and reference books left open. She taps a few icons on the monitor, and then starts pushing aside papers to reveal a keyboard sitting on the desk. “What was the name, again? Moon?”

“Yep!”

Sonia types the name into the search bar and opens the folder that appears on the screen. A few files and folders pop up. “Here we are,” she announces, taking a step back to let the boys get a closer look. “A lot of this is data directly from Moon’s Pokédex, so it won’t be much help to you. I’d suggest starting with the user profile there.”

Hop taps on the screen to open the user profile and is met with a wealth of information about Moon. She’s a girl, she’s from the Sinnoh region, she has an older sister, and she’s actually _younger_ than Hop. None of that information helps him come up with a gift idea, though, so he reads on.

“Her profession is pharmaceutics? She has a _profession?_ ” Hugh scowls. “She’s my little sister’s age. She shouldn’t have a profession.”

Hop shrugs. “My big bro became Champion when he was ten. It’s not that surprising.”

“Really?” Hugh says, raising an eyebrow at Hop. “That’s cool.”

“Yeah! Lee’s amazing!” Hop beams.

Hugh looks at Hop with an appraising eye. “But does that battling talent run in the family?”

Hop smirks. “Would you like to find out?” he asks, reaching for a Poké Ball on instinct.

“Gentlemen, please focus or I’m kicking you out of my lab,” Sonia interrupts.

Hop grins sheepishly. “Sorry, Sonia.”

Hugh looks back at the user profile. “Hobbies are archery and…poison? What kind of a hobby is poison?”

“Maybe she just really likes Poison-types,” Hop suggests, squinting at the section in question. “No, it really does just say poison. That’s…mildly terrifying.”

“We’re not buying her a bottle of poison,” Hugh says, and Hop isn’t arguing with that. Hugh exits out of the user profile and glances at the other file and folder names. “Camera roll? Why is there a camera roll in here?”

“Hm… I think newer models of the Pokédex have cameras built in,” Sonia says. “That’s probably the camera roll from her Pokédex.”

Hugh grunts in acknowledgement and moves to open the camera roll. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Hop says, smacking Hugh’s hand away from the screen. “We can’t snoop in her camera roll! That’s…that’s a huge invasion of privacy, mate.”

“I’m not going to look through her whole camera roll,” Hugh argues. “I just want to see if she’s taken any photos of herself. See what she looks like.”

Before Hop can come up with an argument against that, Hugh taps the camera roll to open it. A series of photos follows, most of which look like they’re just featuring plants and Pokémon. But a few of them include a boy with dark blue hair or a girl with black hair. Hugh taps one of the pictures of the girl to get a closer look.

She looks a bit like Schilly, with her pale skin, medium-length hair, and sideswept bangs. She’s wearing an orange tank top, white shorts, and green sandals. The photo captures her mid-laugh, clutching a bag of colorful candies in one hand as she sits on the edge of a road, a row of storefronts in the background. The bow leaning against the wall below her solidifies the hypothesis in Hop’s mind that this girl is Moon.

She looks remarkably nonthreatening for someone whose favorite hobbies are shooting and toxins.

“So that’s her,” Hugh says.

“Not what I expected,” Hop admits. “But… Hey, do you recognize those candies she’s holding? She seems to like them, so maybe we can give her a bag of those.”

“A bag of candy? _That’s_ your gift idea?” Hugh says disdainfully. “That’s too cheap a gift for the two of us to give together.”

“That’s fair,” Hop concedes. “Still, we could give her candy alongside something else. If she’s studying pharmaceutics, she might appreciate a pharmaceutical textbook.”

“A textbook? That’s a terrible idea,” Hugh scoffs. “Textbooks are expensive, and we have no idea what textbooks she already has. We should get her some archery accessories.”

“She probably has plenty of archery accessories already, too,” Hop says. “I don’t even know what archery accessories there are besides arrows and quivers.”

Hugh huffs out a sigh. “I don’t know, either.”

They’re silent for a few moments, staring at the picture and mulling over their options. Finally, Hop breaks the silence.

“We shouldn’t stay too much longer. Schilly and Whitley are waiting for us,” Hop says. “I think we have all the info we need on Moon, so let’s just keep mulling it over for now. We can exchange numbers and call if we get a good idea.”

“Sounds good,” Hugh says.

Hop pulls out his Rotom Phone and opens up his contacts. “Here, you can…”

He trails off when he looks back up at Hugh, who’s staring at him in bewilderment. Hugh has rolled up one of his jacket sleeves and held out his wrist to Hop, showing off the watch he’s wearing.

“What are you doing?” Hugh asks.

“I could ask you the same question,” Hop says. “Don’t you have a phone?”

“No. Don’t you have a Xtransceiver?”

“Nope.” Hop grabs Hugh’s wrist and examines his watch. It’s not a watch at all – it has a digital screen that’s displaying a phone interface, just like the one currently open on Hop’s phone. “I wonder…”

Hop types his phone number into Hugh’s watch – Xtransceiver, he called it – and presses the dial button. It switches to a split-screen interface, and a moment later, Hop’s phone starts ringing.

“We can call each other. That’s good,” Hugh says.

“Awesome!” Hop says. “Let’s head over to Schilly’s now. See you, Sonia! Thanks for the help!”

Sonia waves. “Good luck with your gift exchange!”

Hop grabs Hugh’s hand and drags him out the door to go meet back up with their friends.

* * *

A couple weeks later, Hop is sweeping the floor of the lab when his Rotom Phone rings with an incoming call. He swipes to accept the call without even looking to see who it is, letting the phone hover in front of him while he continues to sweep. “‘Lo?”

“Hop! How’s my favorite little brother doing?”

A grin breaks out on Hop’s face. “Lee! Hey!” He sweeps up the pile of dirt and feathers he’s accumulated into the dustpan and stands up, leaning on the broom handle. “I’m, uh, I’m doing good, I think.”

“You sound a little distracted there,” Lee notes. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, no,” Hop says quickly, waving a dismissive hand. “Sonia’s just making me do stuff that she should probably be doing herself and calling it ‘educational’.”

“So, the usual,” Lee laughs. “What is it this time?”

“Cleaning the lab.”

“Well, that’s good! Sonia’s got a special talent for turning her workspace into a disaster area, so it’s good for you to get in the habit of keeping things organized–”

“Not that kind of cleaning,” Hop sighs. “Sweeping and mopping the floor. Also, you’re hardly one to lecture me on keeping organized. I’ve seen your flat.”

“For the record, it’s looking a lot neater than it was the last time you were here,” Lee says. “Had a lot of free time on my hands and needed to keep my mind busy after…well, you know.”

“I know,” Hop says. Lee had struggled a lot at first after losing his Champion title to Schilly. It was hard for him to adjust to not being Champion after it was his whole life for over a decade. Hop is glad that he was able to help Lee through it, and that Lee was able to find another way to utilize his talents.

Speaking of… “How’s the Battle Tower coming along?”

“Great! There’s just a little renovation that has to be done on a couple floors, and then we’ll be open for business!” Lee exclaims. “Intense battles with the strongest Trainers, going all out against each and every opponent…the Battle Tower is going to be amazing! I’m so pumped! Are you going to come and challenge us once it opens, Hop?”

“Ah… Sonia keeps me pretty busy, and I’ve got to focus on my studies,” Hop admits. “But the first moment I’m free, you can bet I’ll be there to give it a shot! I still want to beat you in a serious battle, you know!”

“And I look forward to seeing just how much you’ve grown,” Lee declares. “The renovations will start after Christmas, so I expect the Tower to open up right around the beginning of the year. Perfect timing, don’t you think?”

“I – yeah,” Hop says distractedly. “Wait, are we really that close to Christmas?”

“Only a week away! Bought all your presents yet?”

“No, I…” Hop trails off and his eyes widen. “Oh, fudge.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Calendar, calendar,” he mumbles to himself, dropping the broom and rushing over to Sonia’s desk. Rotom follows him, ensuring Hop can hear Lee call his name as he continues to not get an answer. Hop brushes aside junk until he finally finds her desk calendar, counting down the days until Christmas. He does a quick calculation in his head and groans.

“Hop? What’s going on? Do I need to come down there?” Lee asks worriedly.

“I’m fine, Lee,” Hop says, rolling his eyes. “But I’ve been invited to a Christmas party in two days, and they’re doing a Secret Santa exchange at the party, and I haven’t gotten my present yet.”

“A Christmas party? Sounds like fun,” Lee says. “Who’s throwing it?”

“A Pokédex holder from Johto, I think?”

“ _Really?_ How’d you manage to get an invite to a party like that?” He sounds impressed.

“Honestly? I have no idea,” Hop admits. “Anyways, I’m supposed to be getting the present together with someone, so I need to give him a call to figure out what we’re doing.”

“Alright. Good luck! I’ll see you next week, and I want to hear all about this party!”

“You bet! See you then!”

Hop hangs up the call, grinning widely. “Rotom, call Hugh,” he says, taking a seat on the edge of Sonia’s desk and stretching. So they only have two days to get a gift for Moon – no big deal! Hopefully, Hugh’s already decided on something to get her, so all they have to do is go out and buy it. Piece of cake.

If only picking out a gift for Lee could be that easy.

Hugh picks up on the fourth ring. “Hello?”

“Hey! It’s Hop.”

“I know. I do have you registered in my Xtransceiver,” Hugh says curtly. “Why are you calling?”

“No need to be so rude about it, mate,” Hop says, grin fading. “Just wanted to see if you’d picked out a gift for Moon yet.”

“Fuck,” Hugh says. “…Don’t repeat that.”

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry. I was talking to my little sister,” he says. “We’re making a gift for our friend Leo, and that’s taken up all my attention for the last couple of weeks. I haven’t thought about the Secret Santa at all since I left Galar.”

“Great! That makes two of us,” Hop says with a sigh. “How about we meet up somewhere tomorrow and browse for a gift?”

“No!” Hugh exclaims.

“Huh? What else do you–”

“We’ve been over this. Don’t use the hot glue gun unsupervised,” Hugh continues, his voice fainter. “I’m on a call. I can’t give you my full attention. …Yes, I do! What if you burn yourself?” A distant sigh. “Fine, but only if you’re very, _very_ careful.”

Hugh’s voice returns a moment later at a normal volume. “Sorry about that. You were saying?”

“Sounds like you’re a little busy today, so let’s meet up tomorrow and look for a present,” Hop says. “If you know of any good stores in Unova, I can fly over there and meet you.”

“Do you have a flying Pokémon that can travel such a long distance?”

“Yeah! That’s not an issue.”

“Okay, then. There’s a place up on Route 9 called Shopping Mall Nine that’s got a wide variety of shops. It’s a good place to look for a gift.”

“Shopping Mall Nine?” Hop repeats, grabbing his phone and opening up the navigation app. He types in the name, and it pulls up an address. “The one right outside of, uh…Opelucid City?”

“That’s the one,” Hugh says. “Meet me there at noon. That’ll give us plenty of time to browse.”

“Sounds like a plan! See you then!”

“See you.”

Hugh ends the call, and Hop leans back on his hands. Hugh was being awfully overprotective of his little sister, wasn’t he? Lee hasn’t been that suffocatingly protective of Hop in years, and Hop is grateful for that. But at the same time, he’s a little jealous that Hugh and his little sister get to do something mundane together like making a Christmas gift. That must be fun.

“Hop!” Sonia’s yell cuts through his musings. “Where are you? And why is this floor still covered in feathers!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the fic is completed, but also completely rough and unedited. I'll hopefully have it posted by the end of the week, schoolwork permitting!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may have noticed that I upped the chapter count since posting the first chapter... In the interest of not forcing everyone to sit through a single chapter that's over 7k words long, I opted to split the chapter that was supposed to be chapter 2 in half. The next chapter should be out in a couple of days!

Shopping Mall Nine is easy to find – it’s the only building on Unova’s Route 9, towering above everything nearby. A steady stream of people flow in and out of the entrance, but Hop notices two figures standing off to the side as Corviknight descends towards the mall. One of them is Hugh; the other is a slightly younger girl with short blue hair. Hop lands in front of them and slides off Corviknight.

“This is your ride?” Hugh asks, rubbing a hand over one of Corviknight’s wings. “Looks powerful. I like it.”

“This is Corviknight!” Hop says, patting Corviknight’s chest. “He’s the first Pokémon I ever caught, and a trusty mount, too. In Galar, we use Corviknight to taxi around the region.”

“That’s really cool,” the girl says shyly.

“Thanks!” Hop says, returning Corviknight. “You must be…Hugh’s little sister, right?”

She nods. “My name is Val. Um, it’s nice to meet you,” she says, shaking Hop’s proffered hand.

“Hope you don’t mind her tagging along. She decided that she needs a couple more things for Leo’s present, so she asked to come with me,” Hugh explains.

“My big brother’s never been able to say no to me,” Val giggles.

Hugh’s cheeks flush pink, and he looks away pointedly. “Let’s get on with it. The sooner we can find a gift, the better.”

The trio joins the throng of people heading into the mall. Once inside, Hop is immediately impressed by the openness of the place. The atrium is about the size of a battlefield, ringed by a variety of storefronts decorated with tinsel garland and lights to celebrate the season. A giant Christmas tree stands in the center, stretching up a good two stories, and it still doesn’t come close to touching the roof. Most of the crowd is concentrated there, a sign nearby inviting kids to come meet Santa Claus. There are two more levels of shops above them whose guardrails are decked with boughs of holly, accessible via escalator. All in all, the mall has a very festive atmosphere, but that doesn’t give him any clue where to start looking.

“We were gonna get her some kind of archery accessory, right?” Hop asks Hugh. “Where do they sell those?”

Hugh glances at his sister. “Val?”

“Archery accessories?” she echoes, brow furrowing. “I don’t think there’s any store here that would sell those.”

“Really? There’s no sporting goods store or anything?”

“Not that I know of. There are several shops that sell items for Pokémon Trainers…”

“That’s not really what we’re looking for. How about a bookstore?”

“Ah, no,” Val says apologetically. “I’ve come here plenty of times to buy books, but there’s nowhere that specializes in them. You have to browse the book sections of other stores.”

“Seriously?” Hop glares at Hugh. “Why’d you suggest we come here if you knew that they don’t sell any of the stuff we’re looking for!?”

“I didn’t know! I’ve never been shopping here before!”

“And you didn’t think to check beforehand what kinds of stuff they sell? Your sister obviously knows – you could’ve asked her!”

Hugh glares back at him and opens his mouth to shoot off another retort. Then he glances at his sister and his mouth snaps shut. “Sorry,” he mutters. “Val, can you point us to one of those stores that sells books?”

“Try that one,” Val says, pointing to one of the shops on the first floor.

Hugh heads towards the shop, Hop following a few paces behind. Then Hugh freezes so abruptly that Hop nearly runs into him. “Where are you going?” he demands of Val, who’s heading in a direction that is definitely not towards the shop she pointed to.

“I… I’m going to the second floor,” Val says. “That’s where the store I need is.”

“Not by yourself, you’re not,” Hugh snaps. “Stay with us until we find a gift for Moon, and then we can go get the things you need.”

“That’s awful inefficient, mate,” Hop points out. “She can go get her stuff while we look for ours. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s a  _ very _ big deal. Do you know all the things that can happen to a little girl in a crowded shopping mall, less than a week before Christmas?”

“I’m not that little anymore, Big Brother…”

“Little enough. It’s for your own safety, Val.”

“Come off it, mate. She’s been to this mall on her own before – there’s no reason she can’t go off on her own now!”

“She was never  _ alone  _ then – she was with her friends or our grandfather!”

“But how will she learn to do it by herself if you never let her?” Hop argues. Then he sighs, folding his arms. “Look, mate. I used to have an overprotective brother, too. But once I got old enough to take care of myself, he eased up on me. And I’m still here, aren’t I?”

The glare doesn’t leave Hugh’s face, but it’s aimed at the ground now as he considers Hop’s words. Eventually, he looks back at Val. “Fine. You can go by yourself. But take Eelektross with you,” he says, handing a Poké Ball to her. “If anyone tries anything funny, sic Eelektross on them and come find me.”

Val nods, giving Hugh a grateful smile, and heads towards the escalator while Hop and Hugh continue to the shop she directed them to. It has a name so generic that it could sell just about anything. Upon entering the shop, Hop realizes that that seems to be what they do. The store is filled with a wide variety of trinkets and knick-knacks: mugs, candles, bookends, Pokémon figurines, jewelry, wall art, and much more. Hugh spies the book section and makes a beeline for it, while Hop starts browsing through the items on the nearest display shelf. Maybe he can find something science-y that Moon would enjoy.

This display, though, seems to be aimed at tourists – it’s covered in stuff like pens, keychains, glasses, and magnets that proudly proclaim the name “Shopping Mall Nine” in various colors and styles. The shelf beside it has similar merchandise commemorating Unova as a whole, and various locations within it. Hop examines some of the generic Unova keychains, wondering if Lee would appreciate one. He always buys Hop a souvenir when he visits other regions, and Hop thinks it would be neat to return the favor. But would Lee really appreciate a keychain? He might prefer something practical, like a pen or a mug. Then again, he probably has hundreds of pens and mugs already…

Hop sighs heavily. Why is he stressing so much about getting a souvenir for his brother when he still doesn’t even have a  _ Christmas present _ for him yet? This is the first time that Lee’s gonna be around to celebrate Christmas with them since he became Champion, meaning it’ll be the first time that Hop will remember celebrating Christmas with him. It  _ has _ to be special – which means Hop  _ needs _ to get him a good present. But what would Lee want?

The idea strikes him like a lightning bolt. Lee loves collecting baseball caps – he’d undoubtedly love a new cap to add to his collection. They probably sell souvenir caps here, right? A cap that can only be found in Unova would make a great present for Lee.

But after scouring both sides of the souvenir display, as well as the surrounding shelves, Hop comes up empty-handed. Not a single baseball cap to be found. Maybe that’s for the best; the more Hop thinks about it, the more he doubts that a souvenir cap is even a good present. It’s a little tacky to give a souvenir as a Christmas present, isn’t it? Still, that doesn’t mean he can’t get Lee a souvenir at all; he spins the keychain display around, taking another look at the section for tourist attractions.

“Somehow, I doubt Moon would appreciate a Pokéstar Studios keychain,” Hugh comments.

Hop startles, dropping the keychain as if it burned him. He glances over his shoulder at Hugh. “I, um, wasn’t looking at it for Moon,” he says sheepishly, picking the keychain back up and returning it to the rack. “I wanted to pick out something for my brother.”

“The Champion brother?”

“ _ Former _ Champion…but yeah.”

Hugh grunts. “Well, Unova has plenty of battle facilities where Trainers can hone their skills. He might appreciate a souvenir keychain for one of those. The Battle Subway, White Treehollow, the Pokémon World Tournament…”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that one,” Hop says, brushing his fingers against one of the PWT keychains. “Lee got invited to participate in a couple of tournaments there while he was Champion.”

“Not surprising. They invite strong Trainers from all over the world to participate,” Hugh says. “I’ve always wanted to take part in a tournament there, but…you have to have earned some Gym Badges if you want to compete against decently talented Trainers.”

“That makes sense… How many Gym Badges have you earned?”

“Never bothered taking on Gyms.”

Hop snorts. “Then don’t complain about being barred from tournaments, mate.”

“I wasn’t complaining,” Hugh grumbles.

Hop settles on one of the PWT keychains – it has a stylized Poké Ball logo on it with the name written in emerald green letters – and turns back to Hugh. “Did  _ you _ find anything for Moon?”

“Nope. All the books they have are fiction or self-help books,” he says with a scowl. “They have a decent catalog of murder mysteries, though. If we get desperate enough, we can look for one where the culprit’s weapon of choice is poison.”

Hop grimaces. “I’d rather not.”

“Let’s browse some more, then. Holler if anything catches your eye.”

Hugh starts crossing the aisle towards another set of displays. “Hey, wait,” Hop calls, jogging after him. He’d been helpful in picking out a souvenir for Lee – maybe he could help Hop with this, too. “While we’re here…can I get your advice on something?”

“Go ahead,” Hugh says disinterestedly, looking at the home décor on display.

“Uh…so, I want to get a Christmas present for my brother, but I don’t have any ideas,” Hop says, rubbing the back of his neck. “Any suggestions?”

“Thought you were getting him that keychain,” Hugh says, picking up a piece of canvas art.

“That’s just a souvenir. I need something better for his Christmas present!”

Hugh puts down the canvas art and walks along the display. “Well, what do you usually get him?”

“Uhhh…”

He whirls around and gapes at Hop. “Seriously? You don’t get your brother Christmas presents every year!?”

“Growing up I was lucky to even get to  _ see _ my brother at Christmas!” Hop retorts. “So, no, we haven’t had that luxury!”

“You could have sent him something!” Hugh argues. “Or you could have gotten something and held onto it until the next time you saw him! Even something small still lets him know you  _ care _ !”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but  _ I’ve _ never needed to give my brother presents to let him know that I care about him!”

“Then why are you bothering to get him a present this year?”

“Because he’s actually gonna be home for Christmas this year!”

Hugh’s glare loses a bit of its heat, and he huffs out a sigh. “Alright, fine,” he says. “You want to give him something special, right? Then give him a Pokémon.”

Hop raises an eyebrow. “Seriously? Lee doesn’t need a Pokémon. He already has a full team, and if he wants a new member he can just catch one himself.”

“He can’t catch a Pokémon that you gave him,” Hugh says.

Hop’s brow furrows. “Does that matter?”

“Does that  _ matter _ ? Of course it matters!” Hugh exclaims incredulously. “Giving someone a Pokémon… That’s the most meaningful kind of gift you can give! It’s much more important than a little trinket that can get shoved in a drawer and forgotten about. You’re giving him a brand-new Pokémon partner! A lifetime of memories for them to create together! And it’s so much more than just any old Pokémon he can catch himself, because every time he sees it, he’ll be reminded of  _ you _ and this amazing gift you gave him! There’s  _ nothing _ more special than a Pokémon given to you by someone you love.”

“Okay, I – I never thought about it that way,” Hop says, eying Hugh with equal parts apprehension and awe. “I had no idea you were so passionate about this sort of thing.”

“When I was a little kid, my grandpa gave me three Pokémon,” Hugh says. “Tynamo, Pidove, and Purrloin. I gave the Purrloin to Val as a birthday present, and…” He trails off, looking somberly into the distance.

“And…what?” Hop prompts when he doesn’t continue.

He shakes his head. “Never mind. The point is, that Purrloin is very special to Val, and Tynamo and Pidove are very special to me. They’ve evolved now, but every time I use them in battle…it’s like having a piece of my grandpa with me.”

“Oh… That’s nice.” Hop smiles. “My first partner, Wooloo… Lee caught it for me before he left on his journey. So even though he wasn’t coming home for a long time, I had Wooloo to play with me and look out for me in Lee’s place.”

“All the more reason for you to repay the favor.”

“Yeah!” Hop’s smile grows even wider. “Giving their little siblings their first Pokémon… I guess that’s just what awesome big brothers do, eh?”

Hugh clears his throat, turning pointedly back to the shelves. “We should be looking for a gift for Moon, remember?”

“Right, right,” Hop says, patting Hugh on the shoulder. “Let’s get back to it!”

The idea of giving Moon a Pokémon crosses Hop’s mind, but he dismisses it just as quickly. Moon likes poison, but that doesn’t guarantee she likes Poison-types. Plus, Hugh’s whole argument for a Pokémon being the perfect gift was rooted in the sentimental value of the thing, and Moon has no sentimental attachment to the two strangers who were assigned to give her a gift. So he continues combing the shelves, looking for anything that might reflect her interests.

Finally, while looking through a display of jewelry, one charm bracelet catches his eye. It’s a simple silver chain with a pair of charms dangling from it – a pretty purple gem and a crescent moon. It may not be related to her interests, but it’s certainly related to her, and Hop thinks it looks awfully pretty.

But when he shows it to Hugh – and Val, who has finished up her shopping and rejoined her brother – they’re both less than impressed. “A moon-shaped bracelet for a girl named Moon. Ha-ha, hilarious,” Hugh deadpans.

“What if she doesn’t like jewelry at all?” Val asks.

“All girls like jewelry, right?”

“I don’t.”

“Oh.” Hop shuts the jewelry box and turns it in his hands. “Well, you could apply that logic to anything in this store, really. What if she doesn’t like candles? What if she doesn’t like table decorations? What if she doesn’t like…” He squints at the display beside them. “…glass figurines of Dragon-type Pokémon?”

“Then we need to find something with a more practical use,” Hugh declares. “Anyone can make use of…” He glances around quickly, looking for something nearby with a practical purpose. “Um…a desk organizer?”

“Maybe you should just go with the bracelet, Big Brother,” Val suggests. “I don’t think you’ll be able to find anything else here…”

Hugh looks at Val for a few moments, a rare display of indecision on his face. Eventually, he heaves a sigh. “You’re ready to go home, aren’t you?” he asks.

Val nods.

“Alright. We’ll give her the bracelet.”

Hop heads to the check-out counter to buy Lee’s keychain and Moon’s bracelet. When he’s done, he meets up with Hugh and Val outside the store entrance, where he notices Hugh is carrying a shopping bag that he didn’t have before.

“Where’d you get that?” Hop asks as they head towards the mall’s exit.

“What, this?” He glances down at the bag. “Oh, it’s not mine. Val asked me to carry it for her.”

“Ah, the stuff you bought for your present?” Hop asks Val.

She nods. “Craft paper and a bit of ribbon.”

“What are you making, anyways?”

“It’s a scrapbook!” she exclaims, eyes lighting up. “Leo told me once that he doesn’t have a lot of pictures of his friends, so my big brother spent a long time collecting as many pictures of us as he could find. We’re putting them all together in a scrapbook so he can remember all the great times we’ve shared!”

Hop grins. “Aw, that’s so sweet!”

“Speaking of sweets,” Hugh says, “are we still planning on giving Moon a bag of star candy?”

“Oh, shoot! I totally forgot about that!” Hop exclaims. He glances around at the stores nearby. “Can we find it here?”

“There’s a store right by our house that sells it,” Hugh says, waving a dismissive hand. “We can take care of it on the way home.”

“Thanks, mate,” Hop says. “We’re all set for the party, then? Nothing else we’re forgetting?”

Hugh folds his arms, gazing ahead contemplatively. “Wrapping,” he says suddenly. “We’ll need to wrap it. Just bring a gift bag and tissue paper tomorrow, Hop – we can wrap it when we get there.”

Hop nods, and they exit together back into the daylight. The sun is shining brightly on the side of Hop’s face, and he holds up a hand to block some of the light. They spent a lot more time in the mall than Hop realized.

“Well, we’ll be heading home now,” Hugh says. He pulls out a Poké Ball and sends out a Flygon.

“Um…it was nice to meet you, Hop,” Val says, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.

“Nice to meet you, too!” Hop grins.

Hugh helps Val up onto Flygon’s back, then turns back to Hop. “Still a couple hours of daylight left. This is a great time to go find a Pokémon for your brother,” he comments.

The thought hadn’t even crossed Hop’s mind, so he’s glad Hugh reminded him. It would be so cool to give Lee a rare Pokémon that can’t be found in Galar. But what kinds of Pokémon can he even find in Unova? And how in the world does he decide which one to catch for Lee?

“Hugh, what do you–”

“If the next word out of your mouth is ‘think’, I’m going to smack you,” Hugh interrupts.

Hop’s mouth snaps shut. Hugh looks like he would seriously go through with that threat, and Hop prefers not getting smacked.

“Stop doubting yourself. You know better than anyone else what Pokémon your brother would appreciate getting from you,” Hugh snaps. “A Pokémon that reminds you of him? A Pokémon that’s good in battle? A Pokémon that you like? I don’t know what he would like best. But  _ you _ do.”

“I…I do?”

“You do. You just have to trust your own judgment for once,” he says firmly. “This is  _ your _ gift. Act like it. Lee will appreciate it, whatever you decide.”

They stare at each other in silence for a few moments, Hugh’s words hanging in the air like a gold Nugget sitting on a ledge just out of reach. It’s a tall order, but…he’s right. Hop’s been keen to defer the decision-making to someone else so he doesn’t have to make such a difficult choice. But just because it’s a hard decision doesn’t mean he  _ can’t _ make it. This is Lee they’re talking about. No one knows Lee better than Hop.

“I’ll start looking for wild Pokémon around here,” Hop declares. “When I see a Pokémon Lee’ll like, I’ll know!”

“That’s the spirit,” Hugh says, the corners of his lips curling up into the faintest of smiles. “Good luck.”

“Thanks!” Hop smiles and waves as Hugh joins Val on Flygon’s back. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

“See you,” Hugh says. Flygon flaps its wings and takes off, while Hop turns to the tall grass and prepares to search for the perfect Pokémon to gift to his brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We could all use a little Hugh in our lives.
> 
> A brief roadmap of what the rest of the fic looks like: next chapter is the party, the last chapter is a couple of bonus scenes that wrap up the subplots from this chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Cameofest - I mean, the party chapter! See how many Dexholder cameos you can spot :D

When the day of the party arrives, Hop, Sou, and Schilly all cram onto Corviknight’s back to travel to Johto together. It’s a little cramped, but Sou and Schilly don’t have any Pokémon that can fly, and they didn’t have enough advance notice to buy plane tickets. Hop’s confident that Corviknight can carry them all  _ to _ Johto, but he might need a day to rest before making the return trip.

Halfway through the flight, Hop’s Rotom Phone starts ringing. He doesn’t have enough room to turn around and pull it out of his backpack himself, and Rotom can’t float fast enough to keep up with Corviknight, so Schilly has to get the phone out for him and hold it up to his ear so he can answer.

“Hello!?” he yells, shouting to make his voice heard over the wind.

“Hop? I can barely hear you. Where are you?”

“Flying on Corviknight – um, who is this?”

“It’s Hugh,” he says, and now Hop can recognize him from his usual gruffness. “You’re on your way, I assume?”

“Yeah! What about you?”

“I’m already here. Call me when you’re close – I’ll come outside and meet you so we can bag the gift.”

“Sounds like a plan! See you then!”

Schilly pulls the phone away from Hop’s ear and puts it back in his bag.

“Who was that?” Sou asks.

Hop grins. “Friend of mine!”

“I thought we were your only friends,” Sou says.

“Ouch! You don’t have to be so blunt about it, mate,” Hop complains.

When Corviknight begins his descent towards New Bark Town, Hop has Schilly take his phone back out and give Hugh a call. He doesn’t answer, but a few moments later he steps out of one of the houses in the town – the one with the most Christmas decorations put up. Hop points Corviknight in the direction of the house, and they land in the front yard.

Hop dismounts first so he can help Schilly and Sou get down, handing each of them their gifts from Corviknight’s saddle bag. They greet Hugh while Hop pulls out the bracelet box, gift bag, and tissue paper.

“You guys can head inside!” Hop says to Sou and Schilly. “We’ve got something else to do first.”

He returns Corviknight and holds out the gift-wrapping supplies to Hugh. “How do you want to do this?”

Hugh hums thoughtfully and pulls the candy out of his fanny pack. The bag he purchased is fairly large, filled with the same colorful star-shaped candies that Moon was holding in the photo. He holds it up to compare to the gift bag; it’s about half the size. “Put the candy in first, and the bracelet on top,” he decides.

Hop nods and opens up the gift bag while Hugh wraps the candy in a sheet of tissue paper. He puts the candy in the bag while Hop starts to do the same for the bracelet.

“Stop! You’re doing it wrong!” Hugh shouts. Hop freezes. “You have to put it in the center of the tissue paper, and then fold all the corners up.” Hop tries to follow his instructions, putting the bracelet in the center of the tissue paper and folding the corners of the tissue paper towards the bracelet. “No, no, no! Just let me do it.”

Hugh picks up the tissue paper and holds his hands underneath the bracelet, then slides them up to make all the corners of the paper point upwards around the box. Then he gently places it on top of the candy so that the ends of the tissue paper are sticking out of the bag. He fiddles with the ends a bit, making them stick up straighter and more evenly spaced. “Val is much better at this part,” he grumbles.

By the time he’s done, the tissue paper is poking up out of the bag like a tiny range of flat, snow-covered mountains. “Whoa, so that’s how they do that,” Hop says.

“Honestly! Haven’t you ever bagged a gift before?” Hugh demands. Hop raises an eyebrow at him. Hugh scowls. “Never mind.”

Hop and Hugh head inside, present in hand. Several people are gathered in the living room and kitchen, and several Pokémon are running about. A Sandshrew runs between Hop’s legs, closely pursued by an Oddish. A pop song plays faintly in the background. But only one woman looks up from what she’s doing to greet them.

“Welcome! You must be more of Gold’s friends,” she calls, waving at them with a soapy dishrag. “Gifts can go under the tree in the basement, and there’s plenty of food in the kitchen if you’re hungry! Only one house rule, keep all your Pokémon in their Poké Balls. We’ve got more than enough of them running around already!”

“Can do! Thank you!” Hop calls, waving back.

Before he can ask her where the basement is, Hugh directs him to an open door on the left side of the room. The door leads to the top landing of a staircase, which heads down to a brightly lit basement. The music is blaring even louder down here, bass cranked up so much that it makes Hop’s eardrums pound. Despite that, the room is even more crowded than upstairs, people chatting and laughing and standing around. Are there even any chairs down here?

“’Scuse me!” Hop yells, tapping on another boy’s shoulder. “Where’s the tree where we put…?” He holds up the gift.

The boy glances up and narrows his eyes. “Hugh,” he says coolly.

“Blake,” Hugh says curtly. “You’re here.”

Hop glances between the two, half-expecting them to break into a fistfight and having to break Gold’s one house rule to break them up. But no punches are thrown; Blake simply nods, points to the opposite side of the room, and slips away into the crowd.

“What…what was that?” Hop asks, looking at Hugh in bewilderment.

“Friend of mine,” Hugh says with a shrug. “He’s alright. Tree must be over there, come on.”

Hop stares at Hugh slack-jawed for a few moments before jogging to catch up to him. If that’s how Hugh treats someone he considers a friend, Hop would hate to be his enemy.

They navigate their way to the other side of the room, maneuvering around the crowd and stepping over trash, used dishes, and Christmas decorations that are scattered on the floor. When they reach the wall that Blake had pointed out, they discover that it’s just a piece of paper with the word “TREE” written on it and duct taped to the wall. But there’s a big pile of presents gathered underneath it already, so Hop adds their gift to the pile.

With their main mission complete, Hop is a little unsure what to do next. The people around him are all, like,  _ adults _ , and Hop doesn’t feel comfortable just walking up to one of them and starting a conversation. He turns to ask Hugh if he wants to head back up and grab some food, but Hugh’s not standing beside him anymore. He glances around the room, but Hugh appears to have vanished. Maybe he had the same idea.

Hop makes his way back towards the stairs, looking for Hugh or anyone else he recognizes. He hears Schilly’s voice and spots her and Sou talking to an older teen with brown hair over by the pool table. He considers joining them, but when the boy starts talking just as loud as Schilly, he decides against it. His skull is already starting to feel like someone took a jackhammer to it, and he thinks he’s going to get permanent hearing loss if he stays down here any longer.

Back on the first floor, where the volume of the music is mercifully tolerable, he starts looking around for Hugh again. He’s not in the kitchen, though, and he’s not in the living room either. The only place he hasn’t checked now is the second floor. Hop heads to the second-floor staircase, passing by a small group talking on the edge of the living room.

“…Galar region. I recently read the most remarkable book about the history and legends of Galar, and I would love to go there and see it all in person!”

“What was it called?” Hop blurts out. The speaker, a young woman with long black hair, startles and looks at him. He’s aware that the other two people in the group are staring at him as well, but he has to know if she’s talking about what he thinks she’s talking about.

“I believe it was called  _ Galar: A History _ ,” the woman says. “Are you familiar with it?”

A wide grin spreads across Hop’s face. “That’s the book that my mentor wrote!” He feels like his heart could burst with pride – not only has a Pokédex holder from a completely different region read Sonia’s book, but she enjoyed it so much that it made her want to visit Galar! He has to tell Sonia about this when he gets back.

“Oh! What a wonderful coincidence!” she says, clapping her hands together in delight. “Tell her that it is an incredibly delightful read. I loved how thorough she is with all the topics she covers!”

“I agree,” says one of the others. Hop looks to see who spoke, and his eyes nearly bug out of his head. Her hair is in braids instead of being loose, but that’s unmistakably Moon standing across from him. What are the odds?

“I – you’ve read it, too?” Hop stutters.

“My sister didn’t give me much of a choice,” she says, narrowing her eyes at the other girl. “But in the end…I’m glad she did,” she adds with a shrug. “Professor Magnolia’s commentary is really engaging, and the legends themselves are fascinating. She makes the legendary wolf Pokémon sound so awe-inspiring.”

“They are! Zacian and Zamazenta just have this powerful aura about them, it’s almost overwhelming,” Hop says without thinking.

Moon’s eyes grow as round as a sheared Wooloo. “You’ve  _ met _ them!?”

“Ah… Y-yeah, I have,” he says sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“When? How?”

“Um…it’s a long story,” Hop says.  _ And it’s not one that I enjoy telling people,  _ he doesn’t say.

“That doesn’t surprise me.” The third person in the group speaks up for the first time. He's even older than Moon’s sister, and he’s wearing an ill-fitting Christmas sweater covered in tiny, dancing Pikachu and Eevee. “At a party of Pokédex holders,  _ everyone _ has a long story about how they encountered a legendary Pokémon or three.”

“Well, I still want to hear it!” Moon says eagerly.

“Er… I, uh…” Hop flounders around for an excuse not to have to tell them about the day that was simultaneously the best and the worst one of his life. He comes up empty.

Thankfully, the man with the adorable sweater comes to his rescue. “You don’t have to tell it if you don’t want to, kid,” he says. “No explanation necessary.”

“I… Yeah,” Hop says, nodding. “Thank you, Mister…?”

“Green Oak,” he says. “Just call me Green. And you are?”

“I’m Hop!”

“Oh, did we not introduce ourselves?” Moon’s sister says. “My name is Platinum Berlitz. This is my little sister, Moon.”

“Nice to meet you,” Moon says, nodding in Hop’s direction, though she still looks a bit disappointed that she didn’t get to hear Hop’s story.

“Nice to meet you, too!” Hop smiles.

He talks to Moon, Platinum, and Green for a few more minutes before excusing himself to get back to looking for Hugh.

The second floor is just one huge bedroom; there’s a double bed in the corner, a bookshelf beside it, a desk against the opposite wall, and a Drowzee sleeping beside it. As Hop suspected, Hugh is up here, lounging across one of the sofas in the center of the room. Whitley is sitting with two guys that Hop doesn’t recognize on the other sofa, and all four of them are watching some anime on Gold’s nice flatscreen TV.

Hop walks behind the sofa that Hugh is lying on and leans over the back. “I didn’t know you were an anime fan,” he says.

Hugh glances up at Hop. “I’m not,” he mutters. “Whitley and I were hanging up here because it’s quieter. Then those two showed up and started watching this show. Didn’t bother me enough to make me want to leave, so I’m still here.”

Hop looks back at the screen for a few moments. A giant robot made out of a hodgepodge of vehicles is fighting off a swarm of bad guys. It looks pretty exciting. “What’s it called?” he asks.

“Proteam Omega!” answers one of the other guys, the one with short black hair who’s snacking on a family size bag of potato chips.

“Never heard of it,” Hop says with a shrug. He walks around to the other side of the sofa, swatting Hugh’s legs. “Scooch over, I wanna sit down, too.”

Hugh grunts and moves his legs to the side, giving Hop a little bit of room to sit down on the sofa. It’s not the most comfortable position in the world, but that’s nothing new for Hop – Lee is a couch hog, too. He settles in to watch the rest of the episode, and he finds it entertaining enough that he’s okay with sticking around for more.

“Hey, Hop,” Hugh asks, seemingly out of the blue. “What Pokémon did you wind up catching for your brother?”

Hop opens his mouth to respond, but he’s shushed by the guy with long red hair before he can say anything. He glances at Hugh and points towards the staircase, hoping his meaning is clear enough. Hugh nods and sits up while Hop stands up and heads towards the staircase, though he stops at the top to make sure Hugh is following. Hugh is having a whispered conversation with Whitley, but he seems satisfied with whatever it is she tells him and quickly rejoins Hop. They head downstairs together to continue the conversation.

“So, at first I was looking for a Pokémon that I thought would match Lee’s tastes, right?” Hop begins. “He has a pretty big roster that he rotates through, but his favorites are the ghosts and the dragons. But Ghost- and Dragon-type Pokémon are pretty rare, so I wasn’t having much luck. Then, I stumbled into a big open field, and I found it…a flock of Mareep!”

Hugh raises an eyebrow. “You caught him a Mareep?”

“Hey, hey, before you start judging, hear me out!”

“I gave my sister Purrloin because it’s purple. I don’t have any room to judge.”

“Oh. That’s cute!” Hop grins. “Anyways, we don’t have Mareep in Galar, so I’d never seen one before. And I just fell in love with it at first sight! It’s like a golden Wooloo! I just had to catch one. Lee knows how much I love Wooloo, so I – I think it’ll remind him of me…” He rubs the back of his neck. “Now that I say it out loud, it sounds kinda dumb…”

“It’s not dumb,” Hugh asserts. “It’s thoughtful. Even if it’s not a Pokémon that he likes now, he’ll cherish it and grow to love it because it’s a heartfelt gift from you. You made a good choice. I knew you would.”

Hop flushes a bit at his friend’s praise. “Thanks, mate.”

“HEY, EVERYBODY! GET DOWN TO THE BASEMENT FER THE GIFT EXCHANGE!” someone yells, causing all the conversations in the room to die down.

“Thanks, Wild Gal!” calls someone else.

Hop and Hugh are the closest to the basement door, so they make it down before the big flood of guests from upstairs arrives. The basement doesn’t look any different than the first time they came down here, so they make their way over to the pile of presents and stand around, waiting for further instruction.

Further instruction comes in the form of a black-haired man wearing a Santa hat who arrives at the pile of presents and starts shouting at people to move all the junk out of the way.  _ Useful _ further instruction comes in the form of a woman with blue pigtails who delegates people to move specific items against the walls, clearing out the center of the basement so that there’s enough room for all the guests. After a bit of grunt work and coordinating, they finally manage to get everyone seated on the floor in a semicircle around the “tree”, Santa-hat guy and pigtail girl being the last ones standing.

“Crys, can you run upstairs and make sure everybody’s down here?” asks Santa-hat guy.

“Already did,” answers pigtail girl.

“You’re a doll,” Santa-hat guy grins. Then he turns to address the crowd. “Hey, hey, hey! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m your incredibly talented and handsome host, Gold. Glad to see you all made it! What do you think so far? Pretty awesome party, right?”

Light, scattered applause.

Gold frowns. “I  _ said _ , pretty  _ awesome _ party,  _ right _ ?”

More applause this time, along with an enthusiastic “yeah!” from the other side of the circle. Hop is less than impressed – Lee could work a crowd better than this when he was ten.

“Well, the night’s still young! We’ve got plenty more fun activities ahead of us,” Gold declares. “Not the least of which is our headliner, the Secret Santa exchange! Hope you all brought your gifts, or someone’s gonna be very disappointed!”

“Thank you, Gold. That’s enough,” Crys says through gritted teeth, pushing Gold to an open spot on the edge of the circle where he can sit down. “So, the way we’re going to do this is ‘get a gift, give a gift’ style. Anyone can start, and you’ll get your gift from the gift pile and give it to the recipient. Then, once the recipient has opened it, they’ll get their gift and give it to their recipient, and so on.”

“What if we don’t know what our recipient looks like?” asks a woman with long, brown hair.

“Just say who it’s for, and we can help you out,” Crys replies. “Now, does anyone volunteer to start?”

“Ooh! We will!” Hop exclaims, throwing his hand up in the air. Hugh lets out an exasperated sigh beside him but doesn’t argue. They stand up and start to head towards the gift pile.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Gold says, standing up and holding up his hands in a “stop” gesture. “There’s only supposed to be one person giving each gift. I double checked! Why are two of you getting up?”

“There was an invitation that had  _ one  _ of our names on it, but the writing was so messy that we couldn’t tell who it was addressed to,” Hop explains. “It was the only invitation left, so Hugh and I decided we’d both come and give a gift together!”

“Ohh,” Gold says, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “So that’s what that envelope was for.”

“What envelope?” Hugh asks, leveling Gold with a glare.

“So, funny story,” Gold says, grinning and shooting finger guns at Hop and Hugh. “The day after Togebo delivered the invitations, I found an envelope on the ground that must have fallen out of the bag. It had rained overnight so the thing was practically falling apart – I couldn’t read any of it. But nobody  _ told _ me they hadn’t gotten their invitation, so I figured it wasn’t a big deal! Right?”

“Gold, you idiot!” Crys exclaims, smacking him on the back of the head. “Now someone’s not going to get a gift. Please tell me you at least have a list of who was assigned whom, so we can figure it out?”

“Of course I do,” Gold says, puffing out his chest and pulling a crumpled piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. “I needed  _ some _ way to let people know who to shame for not bringing them a gift.”

Crys heaves an exasperated sigh and takes the paper from Gold. While she’s unfolding it and scanning the list for their names, Hop grabs their gift from the pile and brings it over to Moon. “Surprise,” he says, dropping the bag in front of her with a grin. She looks only slightly less shocked than she did when she found out Hop had met Zacian and Zamazenta.

“Well, what are the odds,” Crys says, letting out a little snort. “Hop was assigned Moon. And Hugh…was assigned Hop.”

“Huh,” Hugh says. Hop turns on his heel and stares at him for a few moments before breaking into a bright smile and jogging back to his side.

“You don’t need to worry about getting me a gift, mate,” he says, throwing an arm over Hugh’s shoulders. “Your friendship’s the best gift I ever could have asked for!”

Hugh seems to be at a loss for words for the first time since Hop met him, and he ducks his head down to hide his face a bit with the collar of his jacket. “Hurry up and open your gift, Moon,” he mutters.

Moon reaches into the bag and pulls out the bracelet box. She opens it and holds up the bracelet, earning an appreciative murmur from the crowd.

“Could be worse,” comments the blue-haired boy sitting next to her. “It could have been eggnog!”

Moon elbows him in the side and looks up at Hugh and Hop. “It’s very pretty. Thank you,” she says.

“The bracelet isn’t the only thing in there,” Hop informs her.

“Oh?” She peers into the bag and pulls out the first sheet of tissue paper, then Hugh’s carefully-wrapped package. She unfolds the tissue paper and lets out a squeal of delight. “Star candies! These are my favorite! How’d you guess?”

“I don’t have to tell if I don’t want to,” Hop says cheekily.

Moon frowns at him, then turns her attention back to the candy, tearing the bag open and popping a piece into her mouth.

“Can I have one?” asks the blue-haired boy.

“No,” she says, throwing a piece at his head. He tries to catch it in his mouth and misses; it bounces off his nose and falls into his lap.

Hop and Hugh head back to their spots as Moon stands up to go get her own gift. After they sit down, Hop glances at Hugh. “Seriously, mate, thank you,” he says. “Not just for the help with Moon’s gift, but with Lee’s gift, too. I’m really glad I got to meet you.”

This time, Hop can see the way Hugh’s cheeks flush pink. “I’m glad to have you as a friend, too,” he mutters. “Thanks for letting me come and give a gift with you.”

Hop smiles. “You’re welcome.”

“We still need to have a battle sometime,” Hugh adds, regaining his usual confidence. “I want to see if you’re really as good as you say.”

“Of course, as long as you don’t mind losing!” Hop grins.

“You really think you can beat me?”

“ _ You  _ really think you can beat  _ me _ , Mr. I’ve-Never-Earned-A-Gym-Badge-In-My-Life?”

“It’ll be a breeze.”

“Try me!”

“Shhh!” hisses the blond young man beside them.

Hop ducks his head, taking his hands off his Poké Balls. Maybe tonight isn’t the best night for a Pokémon battle, especially with Corviknight being so tired from flying all the way here. But he and Hugh are definitely going to have a battle before the end of the year, Hop’s sure of it.

After all, isn’t that what friends are for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Including the ones who are mentioned by name, I managed to fit a total of 16 Dexholder cameos in this chapter! I originally only expected Schilly, Whitley, Sou, Platinum, Moon, Green, Gold, and Crystal to appear. Most of those are probably self-explanatory, but you might be wondering why I wanted Platinum and Green to have guest appearances. Well, that's because they, along with Moon, have a bit in common with Hop and Hugh - they're the only Dexholders to have siblings! You could almost say they have a lot of... _sibilarities_ ;)


	4. Bonus: Christmas Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This bonus chapter started as 100% self-indulgence and over time, turned into 90% self-indulgence and 10% wrapping up all the subplots and character arcs. Reading it makes me very emotional and I hope it makes you very emotional, too <3

**Lentimas Town, Unova**

_Knock, knock, knock._

Leo’s jaw drops as soon as he opens the door. “H-Hugh? Val?”

“Hi, Leo!” Val says cheerfully. “We’re not interrupting anything, are we?”

“N-no, my family and I finished opening all our presents a while ago,” Leo says. “Uh – do you guys want to come inside?”

Leo holds the door open wider so Hugh and Val can come in. Hugh’s never been to Leo’s house before – it’s a quaint little thing, only a single story, with the front door leading into an open concept living room and kitchen. Shelves full of pottery line the walls of the whole space, and a couple of doors in the back presumably lead to the bedrooms. Leo’s mom is sitting at the kitchen table, so Leo leads them into the living area. He takes a seat on the couch, while Hugh and Val remain standing.

“So, um…what are you guys doing here?” Leo asks.

“We got those pots you sent us,” Hugh says. “They’re pretty cool. Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Val echoes. “You really made them yourself?”

“Y-yeah,” Leo says bashfully. “Lentimas Town is known for its pottery and ceramics, and my parents own a pottery shop… I figured some of the stuff I’ve made would make good Christmas gifts. But…you guys didn’t come all the way out here just to thank me for the pots, did you?”

“No,” Hugh says, pulling the present out from behind his back. “We wanted to give you something, too.”

He takes a seat on the couch beside Leo and hands the present to him, while Val takes a seat on Leo’s other side. Leo takes a moment to admire the wrapping. Val really went above and beyond with it; the ribbon is dual-layered and wrapped around the corners of the box to frame the handmade bow in the center. It’s for Leo – of course she would.

Leo unwraps the box, takes the lid off, and unfolds the tissue paper to reveal the scrapbook. The cover is made of green cardstock, reinforced with cardboard, and bound with mint green ribbon. “Class E Memories,” he reads, carefully taking it out of the box. He balances the book on his lap and flips it open.

The first full-page spread contains a collection of photos that long predate Class E. Hugh and Val as toddlers, playing blocks on the floor; Hugh and Val as little kids, running around the Aspertia Lookout; Hugh and Val at her sixth birthday party, when he gave her Purrloin. Hugh spent a long time deliberating about how to organize the photos in the scrapbook, and chronological order seemed to be the best way to do it.

“Is this…a scrapbook of you guys?” Leo asks, a hint of awe in his voice as he flips through the pages.

“Not just us,” Hugh says, just as Leo gets to the first page of photos of Class E. This one is all photos from orientation – Hugh and Leo, Maya and Yuki, Yuko and Blake.

He included every picture of someone with Leo he could find, and the rest of the pages he filled with pictures of himself, Val, and all their classmates. There are more photos with him and Val than anyone else, naturally, but he made sure that everyone – Whitley, Blake, Yuki, Yuko, Maya, even Benga – has at least one group shot and at least one solo shot.

Ironically enough, he has Yuki to thank for being able to get such a wide variety of photos. As he only recently learned, she’s a hobbyist photographer and took loads of pictures of their classmates during field trips and other school events, as well as plenty others just for fun. He wasn’t able to get in touch with Blake at all (by the time of the party, Hugh and Val had already assembled the whole scrapbook), so it wouldn’t have had _any_ pictures of Blake if it wasn’t for Yuki.

Eventually, Leo reaches the last section of the book, and he flips through the pages much faster. “These are all empty,” he says, a hint of bewilderment in his tone.

“Those are for you to add new photos,” Val says, smiling. “Check the last page.”

Leo skips to the last page and traces his fingers over the note at the bottom. “Merry Christmas! Thanks for all the memories, and here’s to many, many more,” he reads. “‘Love, Hugh and Val.’ You guys…” Leo’s smile grows, and tears pool in the corners of his eyes. “I – I don’t know what to say. You really went through all this trouble for me?”

 _Geez, that sounds like something Hop would say._ “You said you don’t have many pictures of your friends. We got you some. No trouble to it,” Hugh says.

“Th-thanks, you guys,” Leo says, rubbing the tears away. “I love it… I just wish I had given you something more meaningful.”

“Your gift was plenty meaningful!” Val exclaims. “And I’m really, really happy that you like ours!” She throws her arms around Leo’s neck and kisses him on the cheek.

Leo’s face flushes as red as a Tamato Berry, and he lets out a high-pitched squeak. He turns his head stiffly to stare at Hugh, wide-eyed. Hugh shrugs and stands up, crossing his arms and glancing to the side.

“I know you’ve got a crush on my sister, Leo,” he says. “And I didn’t want her dating anyone. But I can make an exception for you. Consider it the second part of our present.”

Though he says it casually, Hugh doesn’t make this decision lightly. His sister’s been through enough grief already – the last thing he wants to do is let her date someone and risk experiencing even more. But if there’s anyone who he can trust to do right by Val, it’s his best friend.

And even knowing that, Hugh’s still been hesitant to give Val permission to date Leo. It was only in the last few days, after meeting Hop, that he finally changed his mind. Hop had a point – Hugh’s not just being protective, he’s being _over_ protective. Val is capable of taking care of herself; he needs to let her live her own life. She’ll be okay. And if she’s not, Hugh will be there to help her pick up the pieces.

He spots Leo’s mom through the kitchen window and decides to join her in the yard to give Leo and Val a bit of privacy. Before he heads outside, though, he adds, “Treat her well, Leo. Break her heart and I’ll break your spine.”

* * *

**Postwick, Galar**

Hop watches with curiosity as Sonia tears the wrapping paper off the box. She lets out a gasp. “Aww!” she says, tugging the last of the paper off and letting it fall to the ground. “It’s so cute!”

“I knew you’d say that,” Lee says, grinning up at Sonia from his spot on the floor by her chair. “As soon as I saw it in the store, I thought to myself, ‘wow, Sonia would think this is so cute!’ And I was right!”

“For once,” Sonia agrees.

“For _once!?_ ”

“Sonia, what is it?” Hop asks eagerly.

“It’s a set of Yamper-patterned desk organizers!” she exclaims, turning the box around so Hop can see it.

“Aw, that is cute!”

“And since they’re so cute,” Lee adds, having recovered from his earlier offense, “I’m sure you’ll want to put them on your desk and actually use them to get organized, right?”

Sonia’s smile fades, and she grabs Lee’s cap off his head and smacks him with it. “Ow,” Lee whines, rubbing his head. “What was that for?”

“Your _horrible_ attempt at subtlety.”

Hop laughs. On the other side of the living room, Gramps is watching them with thinly veiled amusement, while Gran and Professor Magnolia assemble the professor’s new motorized cane. Mum is sitting at the base of the Christmas tree, checking to make sure they’ve opened all the gifts.

“It looks like there’s only one gift left,” Mum says, kneeling down and pulling a very familiar box out from under the tree.

“Oh, that’s mine,” Hop says quickly, scrambling over to her.

Mum glances down at the label on the box, brow furrowing. “No, it says it’s to–”

“I mean, it’s _from_ me,” he clarifies, reaching for it. “So, can I…?”

“Of course,” she says with a smile, handing the box to Hop.

Hop gets to his feet slowly, handling the package with care. He crosses back to the other side of the living room, where Lee and Sonia are sitting, watching him. He stops in front of them and takes a deep breath. “Lee,” he says.

Lee blinks. “Hop.”

Hop swallows. He planned out ahead of time exactly what he wanted to say; why is it so hard to get the words out now? “I… Here,” he squeaks, thrusting the present out in front of him. Square, the size of a tissue box, carefully wrapped – he’d looked up a couple of tutorials online to make sure he could get it right. The wrapping paper is bright and colorful, and the bow and ribbon are both Lee’s favorite color. Lee takes the box from him and tears the wrapping off without a second thought.

Hop kneels on the floor in front of him, watching his reactions like a Noctowl. Lee opens the box, unfolding the tissue paper padding and pulling out the Poké Ball. “A…Pokémon?” he says, eyebrows raising. That’s a promising start.

Lee pops open the Poké Ball. Mareep materializes on the floor between them. Lee’s surprise gives way to confusion as Mareep takes a few steps forward, resting its chin on Lee’s knee. “What is…?”

“It’s a Mareep!” Hop says quickly. “I caught it in Unova. I knew I had to as soon as I saw it! I mean, look at it!” he exclaims, rubbing Mareep’s fur and earning a contented bleat from the Pokémon. “It’s so cute, and it’s just as soft as a Wooloo! Oh, but you have to watch out when you’re petting it – its Ability is Static, so it could paralyze you if you’re not careful. And and and, once you train it up, it evolves into this really strong Pokémon called Ampharos! Isn’t it great?”

Lee smiles fondly at him. “It sounds like a great partner…” He picks it up and places it in Hop’s lap. “…for you.”

Hop’s stomach drops. “No, no, no,” he says, shaking his head rapidly. He pushes Mareep off his lap, towards Lee. “I – I caught it for you!”

“Are you sure about that?” Lee asks, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m… I – yes,” he stutters, fumbling for the rest of the words to explain himself. His thoughts are all jumbled, and he tries to straighten them out, but he just keeps circling back to _He hates it_ and _I messed up_ and _I never should have taken Hugh’s advice_.

“Hey, wait,” Sonia pipes up. “Mareep should get some say in this, shouldn’t it? Mareep, who do you want to be your Trainer?”

Mareep looks cautiously between Hop and Lee. Hop swallows down the lump in his throat. It’s going to pick Lee, right? It has to. Hop _told_ Mareep that he was giving it to Lee. Mareep looks away from Hop and turns towards Lee, and Hop feels a sense of relief settle over him – that’s washed away almost instantly as Mareep trots past Lee and settles down on top of Sonia’s feet.

“Wha– That’s not–” Sonia stutters. “Mareep, you were supposed to go to _him_ –”

Hop doesn’t see who she’s pointing to. His vision is blurred with tears, his arms wrapped around himself in some poor imitation of a hug. A gentle hand begins rubbing circles on his back, and Mum’s voice whispers a quiet reassurance in his ear. A loud sob escapes, then another, and another, until he’s full-out crying. He was _so_ sure that this would be the perfect gift – why did it go so wrong?

The hand disappears for a moment before being replaced by strong arms that wrap around Hop, holding him tight. Hop clings to them, a lifeline in a swirling maelstrom of tears and thoughts. He holds on and he cries. He cries out his fears, his stresses, his tension, letting it all roll off his cheeks. And through it all, Hop is comforted by the knowledge that those arms will never let him go as long as he needs them.

That’s just the kind of person Lee is.

When Hop’s tears have finally slowed down to a trickle and his sobs have faded into sniffles, his mind and throat both feel strangely clear. He thinks he’s ready to try talking again, and this time he’s going to start where he should have started from the beginning. “Lee?”

“Yeah, Hop?” Lee says quietly.

“When you told me you were gonna be home for Christmas…I got really excited.”

“You squealed loud enough to wake up half of Wyndon,” Lee chuckles.

“Yeah. It’s the first time, you know? At least that I can remember.”

Lee rests his head on Hop’s. “Guess there are some perks to not being Champion anymore.”

“So, since it’s basically the first time we’re celebrating Christmas together, I wanted to make it special. I wanted to give you something.”

“Oh, Hop…” Lee hugs Hop tighter. “Being able to celebrate Christmas with you is already the best gift I could ask for.”

Hop doesn’t know how to argue with that. As cheesy as it sounds, he knows Lee would never say something like that if he didn’t fully mean it. So…does that mean his gift is totally pointless? It isn’t the perfect gift; Lee doesn’t even seem to want it. And yet…

Hop squirms out of Lee’s arms, turning to look his brother in the eye. Hugh had told him to trust his own judgment - and Hop _knows_ that this is a good gift. It just needs a little more explanation. “I wanted to give you a Pokémon that would remind you of me,” Hop says. “Like you gave me Wooloo… It’s like having a little piece of me with you when you battle. That’s why I picked Mareep. I want you to keep it.”

Lee stares at him wordlessly for a few moments. Then his expression morphs into a warm, fond smile. “Thank you, Hopscotch,” he says. “I’ll treasure it as much as any of my other team members – and I’ll think of you every time I see it.”

He reaches for Mareep, but before he can Hop dives forward and tackles him in another hug. Lee yelps and falls backwards, but a moment later breaks out into laughter. Hop joins in.

“Merry Christmas, Lee! Love you.”

“Love you too, Hop. Merry Christmas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for making it all the way to the end of this story!! I know it's a little niche but I had a blast with it and I'm really happy that you stuck it out all the way to the end. I wanna take this moment to thank a few people that this story wouldn't have been possible without. 
> 
> First off a big thanks to Vex, Kieran, Siragon, Mel, and K9 - thank y'all so much for your feedback and support throughout the whole event, and your patience with me blowing up the event group chat with my endless excerpts and draft docs! I don't think I would have had the motivation to finish this whole fic so quickly without you guys' support <3 Thanks also to Copper and Vex for assigning me Hop and Hugh in the first place, and thank you to Purple for just being awesome - I'm glad you like your gift, and I hope this chapter is just another dollop of icing on the cake <3
> 
> And, lastly, I wish you all a good day, a lovely year, and a Champion time ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always appreciated! Or, come yell at me on Tumblr [@mala-sadas](https://mala-sadas.tumblr.com).


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